Tokyo stocks closed higher Wednesday as market sentiment was initially lifted by U.S. shares' advance overnight with robust corporate earnings and the yen's retreat against the U.S. dollar also brightening the mood.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 94.25 points, or 0.47 percent, from Tuesday to close the day at 20,080.04.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, added 5.88 points, or 0.36 percent, to finish at 1,634.38.

Electric appliance, iron and steel, and machinery-linked issues comprised those that gained the most by the close of play, with rising issues outpacing declining ones by 1,172 to 719 on the First Section.

Local brokers said that Wall Street's strong showing overnight set a positive tone despite ongoing concerns about inflation and the U.S. Federal Reserve's tax hike timeline, while first quarter earnings reports coming in above par also added support.

The mood become more "risk on" in the afternoon as the yen dropped against the U.S. dollar, traders here said, which helped give exporters widely exposed to overseas markets a boost.

But buying ran its course as the market turned circumspect before the close, ahead of a Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday, they said, adding that market players were keen to see if the reshuffle will have any bearing on Abe's historically low public support rate.

On the main section on Wednesday 1,718.45 million shares changed hands, dropping from Tuesday's volume of 1,944.53 million shares.

The turnover on the third trading day of the week came to 2,451.0 billion yen (22.14 billion U.S. dollars).